Dykstra Blog

2011-12-31T07:00:00.001-05:00

I've Moved!
I've taken the plunge to my own domain name.

Don't Worry - everything is there.

Why are you still coming here?

2010-06-16T15:52:00.002-04:00

I've updated a new post at my new site DykstraDash.com. If you are still visiting this old site, you are missing out. Bookmark DykstraDash.com today. :)

You're a Grand Old Flag

2010-06-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Flag Day!

You're a grand old flag, You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true 'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

Lyrics by George M. Cohan, Sung by Andrew on May 12, 2010

A Grand Weekend! Part I

2010-06-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

A few weekends ago, I was blessed once again, to be able to attend a Winsome Women retreat with one of my great friends, Jill, at the Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island. (How’s that for some prepositional phrases).

My dad was wonderful and came up to help Marc watch the boys and get Andrew to and from school, so I could head up north.

After brunch, the four of us, boarded the ferry and arrive on the island to do a little shopping before making our way up to the hotel.

This is such a wonderful, relaxing retreat! It’s at a beautiful location, with great ladies, and a-maz-ing food (like unbelievable 5 course meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner)! Oh, that you can attend session and assemblies with Godly speaker and musicians while we’re there is like icing on the cake.

View Full Album

It’s hard to believe we are only there for a mere 24 hours as it truly feels like a mini vacation. I confess it’s a little stressful getting there, trying to get each of our households and jobs ready for our absence, but once there it’s easy to get caught up in seemingly time warp of the Grand Hotel.

And since the retreat is over a Thursday/Friday, we get to come back to a full weekend ahead of us, which for me was the just start of my Grand weekend.

Things I love Thursday: Rocket Freezer Pop Molds

2010-06-10T08:43:00.001-04:00

While shopping at Art of the Table earlier this year, I found these Tovolo Blue Rocket Pop Molds. I bought them and tucked them away for a special occasion.
Last week we celebrated the fact that it was Thursday and I pulled them out to surprise the boys. They watched me chop up fresh pineapple (will hardly touch the stuff), fresh strawberries (too seedy for them to eat), a banana (Andrew despises) and threw it all into the blender.

The set came with a stand that holds the rocket molds upright really securely. And because of the unique shape, these puppies freeze fast. Like 2-3 hours fast…which is a huge plus when you have two boys asking you literally every 4 minutes, “Are they ready yet”?

They have clever handles that help catch the drips, although they are still no match for my four year old’s mess making abilities.

Plus, a couple nights ago, I was enjoying a fruit popsicle when one the boys woke up needing me (scary dream). I was able to place my pop back into it’s sleeve, shove in the freezer, then pick back up where I left off once appropriate hugs and drinks of water were doled out. Did I mention they are dishwasher safe (top rack, I guess) and BPA free?

Once frozen, you can easily pop these out of the stand and shove them wherever you have freezer space since they are self contained. You can also mix and match the flavors too. We did three chocolate pudding pops and three OJ pops at the same time. And because I know what I put into them, last Saturday I let the boys each have a popsicle made of OJ for breakfast and then turned around and let them eat another one made of Strawberries, Pineapple and Banana. (Something I would never be able to get them to eat.) Yes, they ate two popsicles for breakfast.
And that made me the coolest mom ever.
For more Things to Love check out The Diaper Diaries.

And So It Begins…

2010-06-08T20:00:00.000-04:00

Remember how we are Dykstra Dash-ing through this summer. Last night, it all began.

It was Andrew’s first TBall practice (AJ’s PeeWee TBall starts next month). He’s got two practices this week and next, then once a week games for the next six weeks.

He Loved it! He was one of the oldest/biggest on the team which means he hit the furthest and threw the hardest by default. Even to the point where I came home and double checked to make sure we had him in the right age group. We do… he’s just big.

This Summer will Truly be a Dykstra Dash!

2010-06-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

Wowser – this summer is going to be nutty. Isn’t this time of year supposed be relaxing? A time to kick back, enjoy the weather, and spend time with the family?

Oh we will be doing that – enjoying the weather and spending time as a family… via T-ball and Football. For both boys. Who are in separate age groups and therefore separate practice and game days/times. Yikes!

It looks like at least 2 evenings a week we are going to be committed to some activity for most of the summer, with a few weeks of August being “off”. But, wait, there’s more! Throw a family vacation in there and a possible football camp, plus the usual childcare the I do 2-3 days a week and my daily PT job, plus the “homework” that my boys will be completing over the summer and…. I’m tired before it even really gets started.

But the boys are super excited about all the activities. And so is Marc. Okay, I am too. At least, I am now - when I’m not in the throws of a crazy busy week wondering why, oh why, did we subjected ourselves to the madness that is our local Parks and Rec. Dept?

I’M MOVING!

2010-06-05T12:28:00.003-04:00

I’ve been absent for quite a while and I have somewhat of a good excuse. I’m moving. Not to a new city or even a new neighborhood… but to a new URL. From now on, you can find me and all my random rants and writings at:

DykstraDash.com

I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve got my own domain name and Wordpress site. And don’t worry, I’ve done my best to move everything over there. It looks a little different, a little cleaner in my opinion, and gives me a little more to offer.

However, bear with me as it is still new and I don’t have quite the familiarity with it as I do with Blogger.

So please, click around the new site and see what you think. I’d love to hear what you think about it… the good and the bad (not that I can promise anything.) And thank you to those that have stuck with my ramblings and absences all these years. I’ve truly enjoyed it and appreciate my readers.

Start your engines…and blast off!

2010-05-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

A few weekends ago, I hit a local rummage sale our Parks and Rec. Dept puts on each year. I ran across a GREAT find! For only $3 each, my boys are instantly transformed. AJ into a Nascar Driver complete with Bass Pro Shops patch.

And Andrew is an astronaut with real patches, pockets, and buckets everywhere.

Dear Neglected Blog,

2010-05-26T16:10:00.001-04:00

I have so much to share with you, yet no time to do it in. Between school, work, being a mom, wife, friend, housekeeper, frugal shopper and Lost follower; I'm so sorry to say you've been on the back burner. It's not my choice, really, but I must sleep sometime in there, too.

Don't feel too bad, Dykstra Blog, my reading has been hit hard by our schedule, too. I don't even have a book going right now. And it's not your fault. I tell myself I will get you all caught up... but I know you well enough to know you understand and are willing to pick back up whenever I can.

Here's hoping to reconnect with you soon. Love, Kelli.

FROG Soccer

2010-05-17T07:00:00.000-04:00

We have found a gem in our city called FROG Soccer. It's a FREE soccer camp/practice/lessons for kids ages 4 through 7. Free!

FROG stands for FRiends Of Gary. Gary and his Friends run the practice in a local park once a week during the spring. I guess it's been going on for years, but we just discovered it last month.

Each week, both boys get to practice, rotating through several drills & games that teach soccer skills (along with listening & following directions even though you are so-excited-you-can-hardly-stand-it-skills).

Then there is a scrimmage at the end of each session. They even keep the age groups separate so I don't have a monster 7 year old mowing down my AJ.

Side note: AJ’s buddy, Noah, is in his group. We’re not sure if it’s good thing for those boys to be together or not when the atmosphere is structured. We are praying for their preschool teacher this fall, already.

Back to FROG Soccer: It's pretty well organized and parents take turns bringing in snacks and drinks for the kiddos at the end of the session. Today is my turn... I'm totally bringing in the Fruit Roll-ups and Capri Sun, I scored from Meijer not too long ago.

Thank you Gary and Friends, for giving me a free excuse to be outside in the evenings and good outlet for my boy’s energy.

Long Overdue Family Picture

2010-05-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

I got some sweet gifts this Mother's Day (even though we celebrated early since we were going to be out of town.).

I got the card to the left from Andrew. He made it at school, along with the basket of flowers. And each flower is a little something he wrote for me.

I will cleen up.

I will giv you a hug.

I will trie to made you a cake.

I will kleen up

Then he insisted on making me a cake all by himself. Fortunately, we had a single 9-in round cake already baked in the freezer, so all he had to do was frost it. I set out all the ingredients, premeasuring some, but letting him measure others. I gave him access to my beloved Kitchen-Aid and let him loose.

My cake complete with dolphin, elephant, lion, and gorilla sprinkles. It was a crunchy cake.

These are the gifts from Marc. I needed to new headphones for running and I've been wanting a new spreader. I'm so glad God gave me the privilege to be the mom in this family!

Who do you call when BumblyBurg's in Trouble?

2010-05-05T23:14:00.001-04:00

LARRY BOY!

Four!

2010-04-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

This post is SO long overdue: I'm sorry, AJ!

Can you believe my little man turned FOUR this month? My baby... my puffin-munkin... my cubbie... is four! I can hardly wrap my head around how fast the last four years have gone, but then again, and it's really hard to imagine the time when we wasn't a part of our lives. He's that perfect little puzzle piece. One of four four perfect puzzle pieces in this here family.

AJ, I think you are starting to grow out of it a bit, but overall, you are still my little homebody... happiest at home in jammies. If you have a day at home, playing with Noah during the day and with Andrew outside in evening, you are a happy little man.

Want another way to make a little AJ man happy?? Give you pizza. Seriously, you ask for pizza for e.v.e.r.y meal. We already have pizza once a week for sure and occasionally twice, if we pick a cheap one for lunch or something. But every meal, you ask... and then your follow-up question is (not kidding), "When's Friday"? Friday is our pizza night.

Your other favorite foods are the stand-bys: peanut butter, cashews and dried cranberries (you love them together), and Raspberry Yogurt.

At four, you are, thankfully, still very much a snuggler. Way more than your brother ever was. Early in the morning, before bed, after naps.... really anytime is good for you. We still have to kick you out of our bed nightly because you sneak in.

In just the past two weeks you have learned to make the "L" sound!!! We were starting to get just slightly concerned and then, almost on your fourth birthday to the day... the L's started coming. You still have a few other sounds that need work, but we are very excited to be hearing "Dandelion" instead of "Dandewion" (even though the latter is so terribly adorable still).

And I'm so thankful at how well you play with your brother, Andrew. I know there are time when you bicker and fight; but most of the time, you two get along beautifully. I pray you continue your great friendship your entire lives.

You are learning 4 year old humor and it's cracking us up. You pick up on what makes mom or dad laugh and then repeating it over and over.

AJ, we are so thankful for you and what you bring to our family. You are a true joy and you surprise us each day with how much you are learning so quickly. We love you, kiddo!

Bugs!

2010-04-20T07:00:00.003-04:00

I recently found out, or just tuned into at least, that our local public museum gives city residents free admission on Mondays. And last week, I surprisingly found myself not babysitting and not going into the office on Monday. So that afternoon, I packed up the kids and we hit the musuem. Seeing as we had never been there before, it was interesting, but I confess, not something I would want to do over and over, like the Gardens. However, they did have a special exhibit there that was pretty cool. It was BUGS!

Book Report: Angels and Demons

2010-04-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

During my long l.o.n.g. drive to and from Iowa, I made the sure the boys were properly outfitted with their headphones and Loony Tunes before popping in my recently borrowing book on CD, Angels & Demons by Dan Brown. It's funny since the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown is what I listened to last year during the same drive.

I don't think I liked it much as Davinci Code and there were some parts that were just a little too much. I'll also admit that the very ending, like the last few paragraphs, were as cheesy and corny as ever and almost seemed like they were written by someone else entirely. However, overall I enjoyed this book and was fascinated by all the works of art referenced and the history behind them.

I would love some feedback: I am now interested in watching the movie, but considering how graphic and gruesome some of the story is, I'm not sure I can handle watching it "on film" unless they handle it well.... ie: not show too much gore. Have you seen this movie? What do you think?

Season Premier: Snow Cone Maker

2010-04-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

It's finally warm enough to break out the snow cone maker. This little contraption by Pampered Chef has been so worth the money.

It's funny. My mom bought me this snow cone maker years and years ago... like when I was in high school, I think. And it sat around forever, never getting used. I even considered selling it on eBay at one time or another.

However, last year, we rediscovered it and snow cones became our daily, yes daily, afternoon treat. The boys were so excited when I told them we would pull out the snow cone maker. I even stayed up late the night before making the syrups.

I take cleaned out 8oz Wishbone salad dressing containers. They are the perfect size and have a squeeze top that is just right. Then for each flavor, I boil 1 cup of sugar and 6T of water until clear. Add 1/2 packet (1/2 tsp) Kool-Aid.

It's a perfect, and cheap, way to spoil the kiddos on a hot afternoon.

The story continues...

2010-04-15T07:33:00.001-04:00

If you are visiting from Big Binder, please stop back and give her some bloggy love. Drop her a sweet comment telling her how much you love being in loop on all the cool things going on around town.

Here is my baked oatmeal recipe and why we are eating it today for breakfast.

Thanks, Jen!

How Does it End: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

2010-04-13T17:15:00.001-04:00

We are back from our Spring Break vacation and jumped right into a busy week. While I have so much to post about and hopefully will get around to it, I'll just jump right into to what we did today.

Our local theaters have a series of family friendly films running where children's tickets are free and adults are only $3.50. A couple weeks ago, by strategic planning on the wives part, Marc and his buddy took all the kids to see Astro Boy. I looked it up on a Christian website and without seeing myself, deemed it ok. And according to Marc is was okay, even though it got a little scary and Andrew struggled with "scary thoughts" about the movie for a while.

Well, after hearing great reviews about Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, I decided to take the boys today after work/school. We grabbed a quick lunch and settled in the theater. A mere hour later we were walking out. Too scary. I had one boy even in tears he was so upset and begging to leave.

Good thing the movie was so cheap. And I'll just have to figure out a time to watch the ending myself.

How to make an Airplane Cake

2010-04-06T20:00:00.000-04:00

I've Moved!
I've taken the plunge to my own domain name.
Please visit: DykstraDash.com
Don't Worry - everything is there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My little man recently turned four. (That post is long overdue.) Anyway, I made this airplane cake and received some questions about it. And since I took some pictures as I made it, I'll see if what I did makes any sense to anyone else.

Bake 2 round 8 or 9 inch cakes. One cake mix box worth. Cut one cake in half.

Put those halves together with icing.

(Use homemade icing if you want to please your picky hubby.)

Slice the other cake to make the rest of the pieces. I actually made one more cut that I didn't take a picture of (image a little off the middle piece). Hopefully the pieced together cake will make sense.

Use more icing to glue and assemble all the pieces.

Cover the whole think in blue icing. Pipe white "clouds" along the base.

Use more white for the windows

I then piped green to outline and spell out "AJ" and "4!". However, personally, I thought it looked better before I added the green. Oh well.

Ta Da! An Airplane cake to please a preschooler.

Jesus Paid it All

2010-04-02T07:28:00.003-04:00

Oh, Praise the One

Who paid my debt
And raised this life up
From the dead!

Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow.

An "It's Almost My Birthday" Party

2010-04-01T22:46:00.000-04:00

I will be taking the boys to IA over Spring Break to visit Grandma and Grandpa Dykstra. Marc, however, will not be coming along because he will be too busy working. Yes, praise God... the man has a job!

Next Tuesday is AJ's Fourth birthday and since we will be in Iowa, we had his birthday party tonight. Just a small little something with a few friends, but I think he enjoyed it.

We started the day with chocolate chip pancakes and he got to watch "Cars" this morning. Then because of the gorgeous weather (I think I heard we had a record high), he spent the rest of the day playing outside with his buddy, Noah.

For his party in the evening some other friends came over, along with the kiddos I babysit, for pizza.... AJ's all time favorite food. Seriously, the kids asks for pizza for every meal. Then came the piniata.

AJ then got to open gifts. I know the picture below is blurry, but can you see AJ's face? He totally freaked out when we opened this little spiderman toy he had wanted. It was hilarious. He also got a scooter like Andrew just got for his birthday... except AJ's is blue. So now they can scoot around together (plus... the scooters fold up and are much more portable for traveling than bikes.)

Finally, we ended the party with an Airplane Cake... complete with Grandma Dykstra's Icing Recipe. (I was told I gypped my oldest last month by frosting his cake with storebought icing.) I admit.... this was SO much better. Below is AJ blowing out his 4 candles with the help of his buddy.

What a good day for a birthday party. And the best part... he gets to put on the birthday shirt again and celebrate all over again in Iowa on his real birthday next Tuesday.

Did you know there were Mean Butterflies??

2010-03-26T22:04:00.000-04:00

Go Go Go Jo

2010-03-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen this production??

Last week I was offered an opportunity to head the to our local Civic Theater with some good friends to go see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Oh my goodness... it was just that.... Amazing!

Uh-Maze-Ing.

I want to run right out and get the CD and blast the fun music.